Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



. calnsection of thesame.

'dma-l section of the same.

joint when the barrel is UNI-'TED 'STATES AePair.esr OFFICE.

`HNRY BERG, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

" IMPROVEMENT IN BAREEGHeLOADlNGUVFlRE-ARIVIS.

' speeineatien farming' para er Lettere Patent No. 34,729, aerea March at, 1862.

To all whom it may concern..- 4

-Be it known that I, HENRY BERG, of Davenport, Ain the county of 'Scott and State of Iowa, have-invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brecon-Loading Guns; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description ofthe same, referencebeing Ahad to the accompanying drawings,making part of this specification, in whch Figure l is a side elevationvof a carbine illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a verti- Similar letters of reference indicatecorre-r4 spending parts in the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists, first,

in anv improved mode of l attaching and operating a sliding pivoted barrel; second, inde- .vicesby which 'the motion of the barrel is made to cock and prime the pieces, as hereginafterexplained:third, 'ina device for disconnecting the self-cooking apparatus; fourth, in a devicefor permitting the Withdrawalof ltheprimng.

To enable others skilled in the art so make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents thestock, and B the breech, which are rigidlyconnected together.

O Care. movable face-plates covering the llock on each side.

D is the barrel, provided with arms d d', by means of which it is pivoted to the' breech.

E'isa horizontal bolt passing through a slot yin the breech, .which slot is narrow horizontally, so as to confine the bolt endwise of the gun, but wide vertically, to allotT play to the bolt inthatdirection. ,I y

le eare anges formed upon the bolt E near its respective ends, and fitting in eyes in the endsoflthe arms d d. The'said flanges being -1 eccentricto that portion of the bolt which fits -within 4the slot of the breech, a rotation-of the jbolt will move the barrelvforward or back- Ward'. This rotationis effected by means of lever or crank, F.

j f is-a spring-catch, which retains the lever -F in either position, The front of the breech isfornied with a circular flange, b, fitting in a Acorresponlding annular groove or socket in the rear of the barrel, in order to form a tight drawn back into posi- `tion for firing.

l 4The main portions of the lock, being of com- -mon construction, require no specific descrip- 'pose of raising itby the action of the barrel,

as will be presentlyexplained.

`I is a lever slotted toreceive av bolt or screw, t', by means of which the lever is fulcrumed to the face-plate O.

J is a spring pressing against the end of the lever I, to hold it ina forward position. The slot'in the said lever permits it to be forced backward. v

`K* is a catch taking into a notch 1n the lever I, to hold it in a forward position when desired.

t" o? are short arms projecting horizontally from" the forward end of the lever I.

Fig. 4 is a separate viewof the inside of the .face-plate C', with thelever I, spring J, and

catch }attached.' The retracted position of the lever is here shown in black lines, andthe forward or operating position in red.

G is a chamber to contain tape-priming, (represented by yellow lines,) which extends up through a passage, M, t-o the nipple N.

L is a feed-band pivoted to the lower part ofthe ham mer-stock and employed to forward the priming up the passage M at everyelevvation of the hammer.

l m is a cutter 'upon the hammer, which'severs a suitable piece `of the priming at each stroke.

O is an adjustable elastic plate fitting over the orifice of the passage M, but movable, so as to permit the withdrawal of thepriming when desired.

In Fig. 2 parts in front of the line of sectionare indicated by full red lines, and parts at back hidden from View are shown in dotted black lines. l .i

v'The abovedescribed improvements are of great value in carbines for mounted service, but are applicable also to other arms.

The manner of using the arm is as follows: The parts beingv in 'the position shown'in Figs.

' 2 and, (which is the position for 'ring,) if it be desired to load the piece, the finger andl thumb are applied to the pin f of the cranklever F, and the catch f at the same time retracted bya slight pressure. The lever is then drawn up and over to the position shown in Figr3, which, by the action of the eccentrica e c', throws the barrel forward, as shown)j by e the red llines in Fig. 3. The barrel is then thrown receive 'th charge, while the barrel projects over the ghoulder of the operator. The charge being in erted in the breech, the latter l(with the stock' to which it is attached)lis restored to a horizontal position, and the barrel' falls by its own wieght to aline with the'breech, in the position shown in red in Fig. 3. This descent ot'l the barrel raises the hammer t'o full-cock*- by a horn or shoulder'at the rear end of the arm d',e ngaging beneath the arm i of the lever I, and the arm i?, engaging beneaththe pin h ofthe hammer. At the same timethe feedband L, being, by the 4motion of the hammer,

driven up the passage M, carries forward the tape-priming,l causing it to project over the nipple. This position of -the hammer and 'priming apparatus is shown by dotted redline's in Fig. 2. The cranlfeleverli` being iiow re.

stored to its forward position, the barrel is thereby drawn-back,'and the piece is in wadi-V ness for iring.

It will be observed that as the barrel is elevated the spring .l' permits the lever I to recede sufficiently to allow the passage of the horn or shoulder 4by which the lever is to ybe elevated. It will further be seen that as the barrel is drawn-backward into position for rfing, the, end of the arm al', pressing against-the front end of the lever, forces it to its extreme backward position, and so holds it.` While to a 'position at right angles with the breech, y latter 'being held in'a vertical position to the lever I is in this position, by applying the thumb-nail to a pin, k, projecting from the forward end of the catch K throughthe faceplate C to the exterior, the rear end of the said catch may be thrown up into .the notch inthe lever I, so as to hold the lever in its retracted position. Whilethe lever is thus held the motion of the barrel is not communicated to the' hammer or primer. By relaxing 'the screw o the plate O may be slipped back and the priming withdrawn,

2. The yielding lever I i vt", constructed andl employed lin the manner explained, to raise the hammer by the depression ofthe barrel.

' 3.: The catch Kk, employed in the described connection with the; sliding lever I, to disconnec-t theself-cocking apparatus.

4. yThe sliding plateO, employed lin the manner; shown and explained, to cover the priming-passage M or permit the withdrawal ofthe priming when desired.

HENRY BERG.

Witnesses:

JNO. W. THOMPSON, C. H. LAGE. 

